Siemens to shed 11,600 more jobs as it eyes Alstom

Siemens will present its proposals to Alstom on June 16Lukas Barth/Reuters

Siemens, the German industrial conglomerate at the heart of a bid battle for Alstom, is trimming nearly 12,000 jobs in an attempt to streamline the business and cut €1 billion in costs.

Joe Kaeser, who took over as chief executive of Siemens last August when Peter Löscher was ousted after a number of profit warnings, said that 7,600 positions would be affected by an overhaul in which 16 divisions would be consolidated into nine, and that a further 4,000 engaged in regional activities would also be made redundant. The company employs about 360,000 people.

Despite revenues larger than the GDP of several European countries, Siemens has already cut 15,000 jobs as part of its Vision 2020 reform programme to keep up with rivals such as…